


Ripples

by Toinette93



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Don't Take This Too Seriously, Episode: s01e26-s02e01 Shockwave Parts 1-2, Fix-It of Sorts, Friendship, Gen, Missing Scene, Not Beta Read, of that particular episode which is pretty violent, probably less graphic than the episode
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:01:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26947126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toinette93/pseuds/Toinette93
Summary: Schockwave but with people behaving like good friends/decent human beings.I mean, I enjoyed the episode but the 3 600 dead people are sort of forgotten part way through, and then nobody seems to check on two of the main characters who were tortured. Let's say some acknowledgement happened off-screen, shall we? And thus, game for fanfiction ;-)
Relationships: Jonathan Archer & Malcolm Reed, Malcolm Reed & Charles "Trip" Tucker III
Comments: 16
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [curious_skylark](https://archiveofourown.org/users/curious_skylark/gifts).



Malcolm Reed was pacing, stuck in his quarters where he had been locked up by the Suliban who had taken the ship. 3 600 people. Dead. All of them. Burnt to a crisp when their atmosphere ignited, barely leaving bodies to be recovered. At least, they hadn’t killed them. He hadn’t killed them. He’d been at the helm of the shuttlepod when that had happened, and however sure he may have been that the exhaust port had been closed, there had been a small slither of doubt. A terrible, unbearable doubt.

He’d looked for hours and hours for a way to prove the Enterprise’s innocence, so that at least he wouldn’t have the failure of whole Starfleet exploration program on his conscience. And in the end, it was Captain Archer who’d found the answer, through some time travel shenanigan that he did not really understand. Even if he knew, rationally, that there was nothing he could have done, pitted against cloaking technology from the future of all things, he could not help but feel like he had failed. His job was to protect people. Yet, 3 600 innocent people had died under his watch, killed by an apparatus that had been latched to the very shuttle he had been piloting.

And that wasn’t even mentioning his primary duty to his captain and his crew. The ship had been seized by Sulibans. And the Captain… god knows where or more appropriately when he was. How could an armoury officer expect to prevail against time-traveling species coming from the bloody future using cloaking technology the like of which they had never seen before? And yet, the result was there, he had failed, and feeling sorry for himself was certainly not going to change that. 3 600 people, dead. The ship, seized. The captain gone, without any way of knowing if he was even still alive. And who knew what those Suliban were doing to his crew-mates. To Trip, to T’Pol, and, oh god, to Travis and Hoshi, who were far, far too young to die. Not that they were likely to be the primary targets. If he had a guess, he’d probably come before them on the list if they were to resort to anything unpleasant to determine where the captain was. Cold comfort, it was, but comfort nonetheless.

If only he could **do** something, anything. The waiting, the not knowing. He should have been better at dealing with it. He had been better at dealing with it, in the past, he was pretty sure, although he wasn’t particularly keen on dwelling on that particular part of his life. But most of the time then, he had worked alone, or with people with the same training as himself. Here, now, the people of the ship were his duty to protect. A duty he was failing at. So he paced and waited, because there was nothing else he could do. He’d tried, but the Suliban had locked him well and good and he couldn’t escape. 

Then there was a noise  coming from the com panel, then the  noise became an indistinct but definitely human voice, and then it was Commander Tucker. Trip, who’d managed to get some communication to parts of the ship. Malcolm could barely suppress  a sigh  of relief. Some of them were alright, at least.  The relief was only partial, and the fact that they could not reach T’Pol was certainly concerning. Reed hoped she was alright. They needed to find a way to get back control of the ship. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trip reacts to Malcolm getting tortured. Less graphic than the show I think?

Trip was hearing Reed scream. Dammit, Malcolm! The engineer hadn’t quite realized the reality of what their plan implied for their armory officer. “I’ll be reluctant enough to make them think I want to hide something and then I’ll give them want they want” didn’t sound all that bad, even if he hadn’t loved it. But this was torture, he was listening to. Travis, T’Pol and himself had finished rigging the ship’s system to simulate a core breach. And now they had to wait for Malcolm to pretend to crack and tell them he had been ordered by Archer to destroy the time-traveling apparatus they needed the Suliban to use to get him back from the 31st century, because there was no way they’d managed to get it and understand how it worked in time.

Another scream. The noise of fist meeting flesh. Hoshi had managed to get them a one-way audio line to the bridge. They needed to know when the Suliban had taken the bait,  to time their little light show. But it meant they could hear what Malcolm was going through. Trip had hated the plan the moment Malcolm had suggested it. But he  hadn’t objected. He  wasn’t in command, T’Pol was.  And t hey needed to get the captain back, Trip knew that better than anyone else. Archer was far more than a captain to  him , one of his closest friend, and Malcolm had argued it was the only way to get him out.  So he’d agreed. An now he wondered if he had been wrong to. If there hadn’t been another way.

More hits, and more screams, almost whimpers now. Come on Malcolm, thought Trip, surely you’ll have them convinced by now? But it kept on going, and Trip, hearing the pain in his friend’s voice, could only hope that Malcolm was at least partly faking it, making it sound worse than it really was. It kept going, and going, and it felt it had gone on forever.  Trip was angry at the Suliban, angry at Malcolm for surely making it last longer than it had too, angry at himself for agreeing to it. Because he hadn’t protested, not really, the cap’n was far too important to. Malcolm had better be alright by the end, because there was no one he was going to be able to forgive if it wasn’t the case,  less of all himself. 

Trip looked around, he saw Travis’s looking away, Hoshi visibly holding back tear, and T’Pol’s impeccable control seemed to be demanding more effort than usual. Although it might have been because of what she’d been through, and he was  sure as hell going to make certain she got checked by Phlox the moment Archer was back on the ship. She’d refused to go any earlier, and Trip had to admit they did not have the time. 

Then Malcolm finally pretended to crack, and the Suliban took the bait. Trip had to admit he’d done a good job of it. Hell, he’d have believed him, if he didn’t know the man. At least it was over. He wasn’t sure how much more of this he could have taken, and he wasn’t the one getting tortured.“ _Get him back to his quarters”,_ Selik said, and Trip heard the sound of feet dragged on the bridge floor. They were in business. Going out of their hiding space, they took control of Engineering, and Trip did not have time to think about anything but getting the ship back for a while. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come say hello in the comments ! I love comments.


	3. Chapter 3

They’d done it! The bang in engineering had been one hell of an impressive explosion, and had he not faked the thing himself, Trip could almost have thought the core was about to breach. And the Suliban took the bait. Certain the ship was about to explode, they were abandoning it, and from what they could tell, the bridge was empty. It was time to get up there, and get the hell away from the Suliban station. And to hope Archer would be brought back from the future. They might have to stage a rescue mission to rescue him back from their enemies after that, but at least, he wouldn’t be stuck in a post-apocalyptic 31 st century with Crewman Daniels, who wasn’t even particularly good company. 

Checking that the route was clear, Trip, T’Pol, Travis and Hoshi ran along the corridors on crew quarters decks, on their way to the bridge. They’d picked up communicators on the way and as they were running, Trip opened his.

“Trip to sickbay.”

“Phlox here. Commander, did your plan succeed?”

“Yes, we’re on our way to the bridge.” They’d kept their communications to a minimum in order not to alarm the Suliban, and so the doctor had not been kept on the loop. “How’s Malcolm?” Trip added. 

“Lieutenant Reed has not yet made his way to sickbay, and I still cannot open the doors from the inside, Commander.”

Trip cursed under his breath. They thought they’d have managed to unlock the doors by now, but they hadn’t, and the Suliban must have re-locked the doors to sickbay that they have managed to get open. Looking where they were, Trip noticed they weren’t far from Malcolm’s quarters.

“I’m getting him to you, doctor. Tucker out”.

Trip had expected some protest from T’Pol, at least but she just nodded. He wouldn’t be immediately needed on the bridge, she and Travis knew how to get the Enterprise going while Hoshi would get communications back and open all the crew quarter’s door.

He turned left when the others turned right, and two minutes later, he was at Reed’s door. He hadn’t met any Suliban on the way. He made quick work of opening the door, and disabled the security lock.

“Malcolm?”

T rip looked around, and saw Malcolm, sat on the floor, his back to his bunk, head lolling downwards. Trip kneeled down in front of him. There was bit of blood on the tactical officer’s hair and uniform. He did not seem to have noticed Trip’s entrance. 

“Malcolm, can you hear me?”

R eed’s head perked up, and even if he was relieved to see Malcolm was conscious, the blood still dripping from his split lip and cheekbone and the swollen soon-to-be black eyes made for a gruesome sight. 

“Commander?” Reed croaked.

“Yeah, Malcolm.”

“I have transmitted the information as ordered.”

“Yeah, I… I heard that, Hoshi had established a link to the bridge.”

“The ship?”

“The Suliban have left. We made them believe the ship would blow, as planned. You should have seen the light-show.”

“The captain?”

“We don’t know, yet. But the Suliban believed you. They’re bound to be using Daniels’ time machine. You did it, Malcolm.”

Trip’s voice was tense,  chocked up by the confusing emotions fighting to get out. Fear, relief, empathy, anger.  T he lieutenant nodded, and Trip winced in sympathy where the movement seemed to make the pain Reed visibly was in worse.  Whatever he may have wanted to tell him would have to wait.

“I’m getting you to sickbay, Lieutenant, can you get up?” He said, arm extending towards the lieutenant’s shoulder to help him up.

“I’m fine” said Malcolm, and he proceeded to try and get up on his own, but Trip still put his arm around him, helping him up and taking part of the weight on his shoulder. They made their way across the corridors in silence. They were not far. Drops of blood fell intermittently on Trip where he was holding on to Reed. Head wounds bled a lot, he knew that, but he really would feel better once he’d gotten his friend to sickbay, in the competent hand of doctor Phlox.

* * *

They got there, and Phlox took charge, starting to treat Malcolm immediately. Trip stayed at first, reluctant to leave, standing awkwardly at the back of the room. He knew he was needed on the bridge, but…

“Commander, aren’t you supposed to be on the bridge?” Phlox asked, his hands busy closing one of the deeper cuts on Malcolm’s face. Then turning to Reed: “You’re going to be alright, lieutenant, but I’ll need to keep you in observation in sickbay for a couple of days, these brutes really did a number on you.”

Trip hesitated for a second and then grudgingly made his way towards the door.

“I’m… I’ll be fine, Commander. Trip.” said Malcolm, and his voice already sounding better than it had a few minutes ago, Phlox’s painkillers having obviously taken effect. “You’re needed on the bridge.”

“Take care of him, doc.” Trip added on his way out.

“I assure you, Commander, the Lieutenant’s injuries are not life-threatening.”

As he left sickbay, on his way to the bridge, he could hear Phlox and Reed start to bicker about recovery times, and he knew it would be ok. Now, if they could only manage to get Jon out…


	4. Chapter 4

Archer was back on his ship, sat in his quarters. It was evening. They weren’t quite sure yet if the exploration program would go on or not, but he was pretty sure T’Pol’s words had made an impression, and he hoped it would work. He’d have to thank her for that. For everything really. She’d protected him and the rest of the crew through torture. He was amazed at how much their relationship had changed since the beginning of their journey, how much he’d grown to trust her almost implicitly in the last year.

And she hadn’t even been the only one to raise to that level. He was just done reading the reports his officers had made for him and he was incredibly proud of his crew. They’d been competent, loyal, ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of a future they knew very little about. It felt all the more unfair that the power that be wanted to stop their exploration. They’d really been exceptional. Travis and Trip, rigging the fake explosion, Hoshi, getting everyone out in spite of her claustrophobia. And Malcolm, of course. When he’d gone back, and T’Pol had said there were no casualties, and only minor injuries to Lieutenant Reed, who was recuperating in sickbay he’d been relieved. And he was, still, it could have gone so much worse. But when, after a few days in sickbay, the lieutenant had come back to the bridge, the sight of the bruising still present on his face had made the captain wince.

And now, after reading the reports, Archer was pensive. Reed’s report, handed as early as everyone else, which made Archer suspect he’d probably worked on in while on sick leave, had been succinct, factual and to the point. Talked about misinforming the enemy to gain tactical advantage and reach the objective. It seemed like for Malcolm, it was just part of the job. No description was made of the interrogation itself. Which, according to T’Pol’s report, had lasted well over an hour, and Archer thought he could see a degree of admiration for the man in the Vulcan’s dry wording, and after what she had said to her own government, he thought maybe he wasn’t projecting as much as he may have thought a few months ago. In Trip’s report, behind the professionalism and engineering lingo, the unease with how things had turned out was quite visible. Archer smiled, recognizing his friend who thought something like that just shouldn’t happen, and he could empathize with the unease of having someone under your command go through something like that while you yourself were just fine. That was one part of being in command Archer had never quite gotten used to.

It did seem Malcolm’s turn came a bit often. Even after all the efforts he’d made, Archer still did not know much about his tactical officer. Even finding out he liked pineapple had felt like cracking classified files. He had to do something to get to know him better, even if there was one thing he knew, that he could trust him with his life and his ship, although maybe not quite as much with making sure he himself came back unscathed. Still, he was grateful. He really needed to invite him to eat together one of these days. In the meantime, gratitude was in order. Whatever Reed may think, he’d gone over and beyond his duty this time. Archer added a commendation to his officer’s file. The details of the missions could not be discussed, but still, a wording could be found. “ _Lieutenant Malcolm Reed went beyond his duty to protect the crew of the Enterprise, against hostile forces, putting himself at considerable risk and suffering considerable physical duress to provide fake information to the enemy, thus saving his captain and giving major tactical advantage to his ship.”_ He disliked the formal wording, but that was bureaucracy for you. In the message he sent to his lieutenant to tell him he had added this to his file, there was a note, saying: “Thank you, Malcolm”.


End file.
